“By serving wise and ignorant sadhus, I am learning the greatest of virtues, pleasing to God above all others…humility.” These are the words of the great master, Babaji, in the Autobiography of a Yogi. Endlessly enlightening truths fill the pages of this book but this passage seems one of the most important. What is humility? How do we achieve it? … Read More
Dear Great Souls, “That which you offer to God, that which you give to God is blessed. It’s not charity, for you’re giving to your own Self. What you offer to God is blessed a million fold!” (Swami Kriyananda) July 29,2014 we celebrated the one-year anniversary of Ananda Meditation Retreat’s new incarnation – its return, after many wonderful years as … Read More
This past (August 2014) Spiritual Renewal Week (SRW), Nayaswami Jyotish encouraged us to memorize and repeat the poem, “God! God! God!” by Paramhansa Yogananda, put to lyrics by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple: From the depths of slumber, As I ascend the spiral stairways of wakefulness, I will whisper: God! God! God! Thou art the food, and when I break … Read More
Take the bowl of my mind and fill it
With Thine understanding.
I was really ready to go on seclusion. I’d been looking forward to it for ages. I had my days all planned out: plenty of meditation, extra energization exercises, starting a yoga habit again, spiritual reading, the works. I did that on my seclusion last year, and loved it. So when I arrived at the Ananda Meditation Retreat a week … Read More
The big concert was on Saturday, and on Wednesday I lost my voice. I am part of a quartet that sings the music of Swami Kriyananda, and we had been months in planning and rehearsing for an interfaith “Unity through Music” event: an elegant dinner followed by a performance of our singing quartet. But it’s a little hard to do … Read More
The Ananda Living Wisdom School holds an awards ceremony at the end of each school year. The teachers recognize their students for qualities developed and expressed during that year – qualities such as kindness, generosity, servicefulness. As I listened, inwardly I felt how pleased Master must be, and Swamiji, at such a fulfillment of their vision of an education that … Read More
In 1946, Herb Jeffries began reading the Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda. It was during a period of long convalescence after Herb was almost killed in a small airplane crash. Herb was lucky to survive that day, but had to stay in the hospital for months. Doctors told him that he would need an operation to relieve the … Read More
“Whatever thou doest unto the least of these thou doest unto Me.” A few weeks ago (mid-May) I found this quotation carved into the base of a tiny statue of Jesus, his right palm open and facing forward, his left hand with index finger pointing to his heart, at his feet a lamb, looking upward trustingly. The statue faced me … Read More
It’s not uncommon to hear people make the claim that Paramhansa Yogananda diluted the Kriya technique, or that he changed it for Westerners. Sometimes it’s done through a conscious intent to deceive and promote one’s own Kriya teacher, sometimes out of ignorance. Either way it’s an unfortunate sign that the world of Kriya Yoga is not free from narrow sectarianism. … Read More
